Johannesburg, Oct 9 (ANI): Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan will officially announce his retirement from Test cricket on Thursday to allow the nation to groom another youngster in his place, according to Sri Lanka Cricket.

According to Sport24, Dilshan expressed that he was to announce his retirement after the Zimbabwe Test series but unfortunately the tour was postponed.

Sri Lanka were to play two tests on their tour of Zimbabwe from October, the report said.

The aggressive opener made his Test debut in 1999 against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo and appeared in 87 tests, the report added.

In an international career spanning 14 years Dilshan scored 5,492 runs at an average of 40.98, the report further said.

His 16 test centuries included a career best 193 against England at Lord's in 2011 as captain, according to the report.

The 36-year-old will continue to play in the shorter 50 overs and Twenty20 formats for his country, the report mentioned.

Dilshan said that he would discuss his future with the national selectors and if they need him, he would play till the 2015 World Cup. (ANI)

--

Get stories like this on the Yahoo app and discover more every day.Download it now.